


I Promise I'll Remember

by Jellybean96



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Best Friends, Boats and Ships, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Married Couple, Memory Loss, Semi-Flirty Skye, Vacation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-18
Updated: 2014-10-21
Packaged: 2018-02-21 14:33:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2471708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jellybean96/pseuds/Jellybean96
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She had to live without him for a year. Spend a year thinking he was dead. She never thought she'd find him again. She also never thought he wouldn't remember her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Found this prompt on Tumblr and decided to do it because I had a massive brainstorm on what to write. It'll only be three chapters, so I hope you enjoy it! :)

" _Be careful, Skye," the man, her husband, reminds her, as he sits in a chair, reading a book._

" _Oh relax, Grant," Skye rolls her eyes, "I'm fine. I'm not going to fall over."_

" _You'd be surprised what can happen," he says to her, smiling as he watches her._

_She turns around and leans back against the railing, placing her hands on either side of the railing behind her. "I still can't believe that you never told me that you have a boat," she says to him._

" _And like I said before, it's not_ my _boat. It belongs to my Uncle."_

" _Still, men who have access to boats are pretty hot."_

" _Oh, so you think I'm hot, do you?" he says, raising an eyebrow at her._

" _Well, I married you, didn't I?"_

" _Yes you did," he says, setting his book down next to him, and standing up from his chair, making his way towards her, "And I couldn't be happier." He stops in front of her, placing his hands on her hips, while hers go up and wrap around his neck. She smiles up at him, and he smiles back down at her. "I love you so much," he says._

" _I love you too," she says back. "And you know, I can't wait until we can bring our own kids out on this boat and have little adventures."_

" _Oh, so we're going to have kids, are we?" he raises his eyebrows and smiles._

" _Of course we are," she says. "And you know, we should probably start trying for those kids."_

" _I think that is an excellent idea," he says huskily, leaning down to press his lips up against hers. She kisses him back and wraps her arms tighter around his neck, bringing him closer to her. His hands grip her hips tighter, causing her to moan. He deepens the kiss, pushing her back up against the railing, and pressing his own body against hers._

" _You certainly know how to please a girl," she says, pulling away slightly, due to needing some air. He smirks and then dives back in, kissing his way down her neck. She tilts her head back, allowing him better access. "Wait," Skye says breathlessly, "what was that?"_

" _What was what?" Grant asks, continuing to kiss her._

" _I thought I heard something," she tells him._

" _You probably imagined it," he tells her, kissing back up her neck._

" _Maybe," she says slowly. "Okay, I definitely heard it that time," she says, pulling his head back so she can look at him. "Don't tell me you didn't hear that too."_

" _I didn't hear anything Skye," he says. He goes back in to kiss her when suddenly everything around them changes. Everything seems to be moving in slow-mo, and that's when they both realize that they are falling. All she can see is Grant's face above her, and the tinted sky behind him._

" _Grab the railing!" She hears Grant shout and she doesn't hesitate. She unwraps her arms from around his neck and reaches behind her to grab onto the railing from the boat. She doesn't feel Grant's arms around her anymore and looks down to see him floating in the ocean beside the boat, looking up at her._

" _Grant!" She yells._

" _Climb!" He yells back._

" _What about you?" she asks him._

" _I'll try and climb up the anchor chain. Just climb before the railing completely detaches. Now."_

_She doesn't question him, but begins carefully climbing her way back up the railing. She stops every once in a while when she thinks she feels the railing giving way. She finally makes it to the top and collapses on the floor of the boat, breathing heavily, trying to somewhat regain her composure. She turns around and crawls to the edge of the boat, right against one of the other railings and peeks through the rungs, looking down into the water to find her husband. She sees him still floating in the water, bobbing up and down with the waves._

" _Grant," she calls out to him, "I'm safe. I made it. You can go and climb up the anchor now."_

" _Okay," he calls back, "I'm going to swim around the boat now."_

" _Be careful," she tells him, worry clearly written on her face._

" _I will be," he says back. She watches as he turns around to begin his swim around the boat, when she hears a creaking, and then a snap. She looks over to see the broken guard rail completely gone, and looks out to see it falling towards Grant at an alarming rate._

" _Grant! Look out!" she calls down to him, but it's too late. The railing falls faster and faster towards the water, hitting Grant right on the top of his head, sending him beneath the waves. "Grant!" She calls out, standing up and leaning against the guard rail, frantically searching the waves for any sign of her husband. She sees the guard rail float back up to the top, and stares at it, waiting, practically willing for Grant to resurface as well. But he doesn't._

_She can feel the tears starting to fall down her face, but she doesn't even bother to wipe them away. "No," she whispers to herself, "No!" she says a little bit louder, "This can't be happening. Grant!" she yells out into the vast expanse of the ocean, hoping that he'll pop up out of the water with that stupid grin on his face. But he doesn't._

* * *

 

Skye shoots up in her bed suddenly, her breathing heavy. She looks around herself to try and make sense of where she is. The light is off, but she can still see bits of sunlight streaming in through the windows of the room that she is in. She sees four white walls, a couple of chairs on either side of her bed, a small table to one side of her bed, and large sliding glass doors to one side of the room, with some type of curtain pulled in front of them. She looks down to see a large, thick, blanket covering her whole body. She hears a faint beeping coming from somewhere and she turns her head to see a monitor set up next to her bed. When she really looks at it, she realizes that it is a machine that is monitoring all of her vitals. That's when she realizes where she is, a hospital room.

The doors to her room slide open and someone she doesn't recognize steps into the room, immediately walking over to her. It's a woman, a nurse, she figures, and she starts messing with different switches and dials on the machine next to her. "I see you're awake now," the nurse says to her with a smile.

"Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital, sweetheart," the nurse says, looking at her like she is crazy.

Skye rolls her eyes, "No, really," she says sarcastically. "What happened? Where exactly am I?"

"I, uh…"

"Just tell me why I'm here!" Skye demands, tears threatening to build up in her eyes due to frustration.

"Hello?"

Skye turns at hearing the familiar voice, to see her best friend standing in the doorway to her room. "Jemma!" she exclaims.

"Skye," Jemma smiles wide, "You're awake! Thank goodness!" She rushes forward and wraps Skye in a massive hug, not letting go for a few minutes. "I was so worried," she tells her when she pulls away.

"I'm sorry I made you worry," Skye says sheepishly, "but uh, can you tell me exactly why I am in this hospital room? Everything is kind of fuzzy."

Skye notices Jemma's smile fade, and her face go pale. "You, you don't remember what happened?"

"Not really. I mean, I remember being out on Grant's uncles' boat, and we were doing…stuff, but then everything starts to be a little fuzzy. I think it's slowly coming back to me, but maybe you can fill me in, that way I know right now, instead of having to wait for my brain to cooperate."

Jemma takes a seat on the edge of Skye's bed, and grabs one of her hands in both of hers, holding onto it before looking up at Skye. "There was an accident."

"What do you mean?" Skye questions, her brow furrowing.

"Well, I don't know exactly what happened, because I wasn't there, but from what the police have figured out from their investigation, there was a malfunction on the boat. Something to do with a section of the safety rail. They aren't sure, but they think that Grant may have fallen into the ocean, and that something, maybe the guard rail when it fell, struck him on the head, knocking him unconscious."

"What are you saying?" Skye asks, growing concerned.

"I'm sorry, Skye. But Grant, he didn't make it."

"What?" she pulls her hand away from Jemma and retreats, "No. You're wrong. This is just some really sick and twisted joke."

"It isn't, Skye. They searched all over where the boat was anchored, but they couldn't find his body. I'm so, so sorry."

"No," Skye whispers, pulling her knees up to her chest. She scoots back all the way to the end of the bed, shaking her head in denial. "No."

"I'm sorry, Skye," Jemma apologizes again.

Skye just ignores her, not wanting to hear any more apologies from someone who had nothing to do with what apparently happened. She doesn't say anything else, not to herself, not to Jemma. She doesn't want to believe that it's true, that he's never coming back. It can't be true, he wouldn't leave her like this, he promised he wouldn't.

After a moment, the haze that is blocking her memory from the other day, allowing everything from that day to become much clearer. As everything comes rushing back all at once, she can feel the tears start to fall from her eyes. The tears fall faster and harder as she remembers, and therefore, gets more upset.

In the midst of her crying, she hears two more voices enter the room. She looks up to see her parents talking with Jemma. "Mommy, daddy," she manages to say through her tears, reaching her arms out to the both of them.

When they see the state she is in, both of her parents immediately rush to her side, pulling her into a large hug. She hugs them back, letting the tears continue to flow from her eyes. "Oh Skye," her mother says, running a hand gently through her long brown hair.

Skye pulls back to look at her parents, "Is is true? Is he really not coming back?"

Her father looks at her sadly, "I'm afraid not, baby girl. The police couldn't find him. All they can really do is keep his picture in the missing person's database, and if we're lucky, he's out there, and someone will find him, and send him back to you."

"I hope so," she says, "Because I don't think that I can live without him."

* * *

 

*1 year later*

"Hey Jemma!" Skye says as she walks in the front door of Jemma's apartment and then into the kitchen. She walks over to the counter and hoists herself up onto it, grabbing an apple out of the fruit bowl next to her. She takes a bit out of it as her best friend turns around to greet her.

"Hey Skye. I'm just- why are you sitting on the counter? You know how I feel about that."

Skye rolls her eyes, "I know. You're paranoid."

"I am not paranoid." Jemma defends herself, "I just happen to know that that is very unsanitary."

"So sanitize it after I leave," Skye shrugs, "It's not that big of a deal."

Jemma sighs, setting the rag she had been using to clean the dishes down on the edge of the sink, "You are so insufferable."

"Yet you continue to love me," Skye smiles, swinging her legs back and forth.

Jemma rolls her eyes, "Did you have a reason for coming here? Or did you just want to annoy me while I try to wash this sink full of dishes?"

"Actually, I have a really great idea."

Jemma groans, "Oh no."

"What? Why do you automatically assume that it's something bad?"

Jemma just looks at her and raises her eyebrow, "Vegas, 2008."

"Okay. Fair point. But that wasn't just my idea and you know it. But anyways, back to my totally awesome idea that you are going to absolutely love and agree to because you are my best friend."

"Tell me your idea." Jemma sighs, figuring it best to just get everything over with now.

"The Caribbean Islands."

"What about it?"

"Let's take a trip to The Caribbean Islands."  
"What? When did you come up with this idea?"

"Yesterday. I figured we both need a little break, and what better way to do that, then to go on vacation. But seeing as how we can't go back to where we would usually go, because of…certain events, I thought why not go out of the country. And I've always wanted to go to The Caribbean Islands. But I don't want to go alone, and you're my absolute best friend in the entire world, which means I want you to come with me, and we'll have a lot of fun, and I promise to not get us kicked out of all the islands." Skye takes a deep breath after her long speech, "So, what do you say?" she gives Jemma her widest smile, hoping that she'll say yes.

"When were you planning on us taking this little trip?"

"We could leave this Sunday night, and be back the following Sunday."

"That only gives us two days! I can't get the time off of work that fast, Skye. There is no way that I'm going to be able to go with you."

"See, I thought you might say that. So I worked a little techno magic to help your boss out of a little, um, situation, and you now have next week off of work." She smiles wide at her best friend, hoping that she'll be impressed.

"You didn't do anything illegal, did you?"

"Not necessarily," she says slowly, "I just helped him out. You know what, it doesn't really matter, does it? I mean, I got you next week off so that you can come with me."

"Okay. And how do you plan on taking off work at this late of a date? Won't your boss fire you or something if you just take the days off?"

Skye scoffs, "Please, like he'd fire me. I'm the  _best_  IT person in that whole place. I'm the reason why that company runs as well as it does. I fix peoples tech problems, allowing them to do what they do best, and run a company. If Fury fires me, I can basically guarantee you, that company will definitely have some major issues, because I am the best."

"You seem really full of yourself, you know that?"

Skye smiles, "I'm just speaking the truth."

"Yes, well, I still don't know if this is such a good idea."

"Come on Jemma! We need this! You work way too hard, I'm getting a little bored at work and in life, you and Fitz have been really snippy at each other lately, and I, well I just really need to get away. We  _both_  just need to get away for a little while."

"There's no way you're giving this up, are you?"

Skye smiles and shakes her head, "Not a chance."

"Fine. I guess we're going to The Caribbean Islands."

"Yes!" Skye exclaims. She jumps off of the counter and hugs Jemma, "You are the greatest friend ever." She pulls from the hug and begins to make her way towards the front door, "I'm going to go home and start packing. Oh and Jem, don't pack all of your long sleeves and sweaters and stuff, okay? This is The Caribbean Islands, we're going on vacation. No one knows us there, so it's okay to let loose a little. And don't forget to pack that new bikini that I know you haven't worn yet."

"Ignoring you," Jemma calls back, turning back to the dishes.

Skye just smiles at her friend before walking out to her car and to her house to start her packing for The Caribbean. She can't wait to get away, she needs to get away.

* * *

 

"Hello Caribbean, we have arrived!" Skye exclaims as she steps out of the front doors of the airport. She squeals and glances over at Jemma standing next to her, "Aren't you excited?"

"I guess so," Jemma says, looking all around her.

Skye sighs, "Come on Jem! This is a new adventure, for the both of us! Can't you at least try and enjoy it? For me?"

"I'll try," she says, "but I can't really make any promises."

"Hey, as long as you try, that's good enough for me. Now come on, let's catch a cab and get to our hotel. Because what I really want to do right now, is go down to the beach and tan a little bit, and see if I can find someone to flirt with a little bit."

Jemma just rolls her eyes at her friend and picks up her bag, following Skye from the front doors of the airport towards a taxi cab that had just stopped at the curb. Guess she better start trying to enjoy herself.

* * *

 

*2 days later*

"You know what I really need right now?" Skye says to Jemma as they each sit in a lounge chair by the poolside. She pulls her earbuds out of her ear and looks at her friend.

"What would that be?" Jemma asks, looking up from her book.

"A drink. I need a drink. I really do."

"Then go and get one. I think there's a bar just over there. Through those double doors," She says, pointing off in one direction.

"Come with me." Skye says.

"Why? You're an adult. You can do it yourself."

Skye frowns, "You're not going to come with me, are you?"

"Nope," Jemma says, returning her attention to her book.

Skye huffs, "Fine. I'll be back in a few minutes." She stands up from her chair, shoving her iPod back into her beach bag and makes her way towards the hotel bar.

"I.D. ma'am," the bouncer at the set of double doors says. Skye slowly reaches into her bra and pulls out her driver's license, handing it over to the man, throwing him a flirty smile as she does so. He takes a quick glance at it before handing it back to her. "Thank you, Miss Ward, go right in."

"Thanks," she says, shoving the I.D. back into her bra, "And, you can call me Skye." She gives him a wink as she walks past him into the room beyond the doors.

Looking all around her, Skye takes in everything within the room. She sees a small stage set up at the front of the room, with a microphone in the center, and two large speakers on either side. There are a few tables set up along both walls, people sitting all over the place. In the center of the room, there is a dance floor of sorts, allowing for people to dance when they want to, to whatever music is playing. And at the back of the room, lining the back wall, is the open bar.

Smiling to herself, Skye walks up to the bar, leaning forward against the bar top. She sees the bartender, clearly a man, standing with his back to her. "Excuse me," she says in his direction, "can I get a Tequila Sunrise, please?"

"One moment," the bartender says, bending down to grab something off of a bottom shelf.

As he does so, Skye turns on her stool and takes in all of the people in the room. There are people there by themselves, there are couples slow dancing in the middle of the room, and there are groups of people, sitting around and drinking with each other. She smiles softly at seeing all of them being so happy with their lives.

"One Tequila Sunrise," the bartender says again, pulling her from her thoughts. She immediately turns around to grab her drink.

When she does turn around, she catches sight of the bartender, the words catch in her throat, and she can feel her heart start beating faster. She can feel the tears building up in her eyes as she stares at the man standing in front of her. She feels like she can't breathe either, like all of the air has been sucked out of the room.

"Miss? Are you okay? Is there someone I can call to come and get you? Miss?"

Suddenly, Skye finds her voice, and she stands up from her chair, "Oh my goodness. It's you." She says, and then leans forward, grabbing his face in her hands and attacking his lips with her own. She feels him tense up, and so she pulls away, looking right into his eyes.

"Grant." She breathes out, "I can't believe it's really you, I thought I lost you forever." She lets the tears fall down her face as she sits back on her stool, removing her hands from his face to grab his hands instead. "Everyone is going to be so excited to hear that you're alive. Jemma is out on the beach right now, she's never going to believe this. This is just, wow. I can't believe that you're really here." She smiles at him for a moment, before frowning, "Hang on. Why  _are_  you here? Why didn't you come home?"

He looks down and pulls his hands away from hers, looking back up at her with a confused and worried look on his face, "I'm sorry. My name isn't Grant, it's Cole."

"No, no it isn't." she looks at him curiously.

"I don't think I am who you think I am."

"What?" she says, shock immediately covering her entire face. "You don't, you don't remember me?"

"Should I?" he asks her hesitantly. "Is there someone I can get for you? Someone to help you back to your room?"

"No. I'm sorry," she stands up from the stool, "I have to go." She quickly makes her way out of the bar, past the double doors, and then down an empty hallway, blocking out all of the sounds around her.

She moves down the hallway, until she doesn't think her legs can go any further, and then leans back against the wall, sliding down until she's sitting on the floor, her knees up in front of her. "I can't believe he doesn't remember me."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Back with another chapter for ya!  
> Quick thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, followed this story. :) You guys are awesome.  
> Here's the next chapter for you! Hope you enjoy!

Jemma looks up from her book, checking the time on her cell phone sitting on top of her bag. She realizes that Skye's been gone for hours, and, out of concern, decides to go look for her friend. Leaving her book sitting on top of her beach bag, she stands up and makes her way towards the bar.

"I.D., ma'am," the bouncer at the door says.

"Oh," Jemma says, realizing she forgot her I.D. in her bag, "actually, I'm looking for a friend of mine. I think she was in here earlier."

"Well I've been at this door all day. Maybe I can help you. What does she look like?"

"She's about, yea high, brown hair, probably pulled up into a bun. She's wearing some denim booty shorts, and a deep blue bikini top."

The bouncer thinks for a minute, "You mean Skye?"

"You've seen her?" Jemma asks hopefully.

"Yeah. She came by a couple hours ago. She was only in the bar for a few minutes before I saw her run out. I think she was crying. I don't know what about, though."

Jemma grows concerned, "Did you see which way she went?"

"Uh, down that way, I think," he points down the hallway Skye had run down earlier.

"Thank you so much," Jemma tells him appreciatively.

"No problem," the bouncer says with a smile.

Jemma turns and begins making her way down the hallway indicated by the bouncer, looking for her best friend. She makes it to the end of the hallway, and she still hasn't found Skye. She's about to turn around and head back, when she hears sniffling coming from around the corner. Peeking around the corner of the hallway, she sees Skye curled up against the wall, obviously crying.

"Skye?" Jemma says softly as she kneels down next to Skye, "Skye? What's wrong?"

Skye lifts her head up, "I saw him." She manages to get out through her tears.

"Saw who?" Jemma asks, growing concerned.

"Grant," Skye says, and then lets out a giant sob.

Jemma's eyes go wide, and she shifts so that she is sitting next to Skye, "What? What are you talking about?"

"Grant. I saw him when I was in the bar. He's bartending. But he, he doesn't remember me!"

"He doesn't remember you?"

"No!"

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive! He looked at me like I was just another tourist, and when I kissed him, he pulled away and asked me what my name was!"

"Oh my goodness," Jemma says, immediately pulling Skye into a hug, "I'm so sorry."

"He probably thinks I'm a crazy lunatic for kissing him," she says, pulling away slightly from Jemma, "but as soon as I saw him, I just got so excited, I couldn't help myself."

"You were completely justified in your actions," Jemma tells her, "for the last year he has been missing, everyone thought he was dead. And by some miracle, you find him without actually intending to, and you were just excited and overwhelmed."

"Still! It really hurts that he doesn't even remember me."

"I know it does, sweetheart," Jemma says, "I can't even begin to imagine how you must feel right now."

"And you know what else?"

"What?"

"He said that his name is Cole!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! He doesn't even know what his own name is! I just…"

"I know," Jemma says, brushing a hand a top of Skye's head. "Now come on, let's get you back to the room."

"Okay," Skye says, and lets Jemma help her up from the floor. "Can we uh, can we get some ice cream too?"

"Of course, sweetie," Jemma says softly, "let's go."

* * *

"Hey Cole," the man at the front desk says, greeting the tall, dark haired man approaching him.

"Hey Richard," Cole replies, "I was wondering if you could help me with something."

"Sure man, whatever you need."

"I'm looking for someone…"

"Aren't we all," Richard says with a smile.

Cole smiles and rolls his eyes, "Anyways, I met her earlier during my shift at the bar. She seemed like she knew me, but when I asked her who she was, she just ran off."

"Do you think she's someone from before?"

"She could be."

"Okay, did she say what her name was?"

"No," he sighs frustratingly. "But she did mention that she was here with someone else."

"Another guy?"

"No. I don't think so. She said her friend was out on the beach waiting for her. She talked about her like I should know her too."

"Did you get a name?"

"Yeah. It was, um…Jemma."

"Alright, give me one moment." Richard turns to his computer and begins typing on his keyboard, "You know I would never do this for anyone else, right?"

"I know," Cole smiles, "which is why I appreciate this so much."

"Okay," Richard says, having found what he needed, "We only have one Jemma staying in the hotel this week. She is here with someone named Skye. They are staying on the fourth floor, room 408."

"Thank you so much," Cole smiles wide.

"No problem," Richard says. Cole turns around and begins to walk away. "Hey," Richard calls out, causing Cole to turn around, "You know, if it doesn't work out with this girl, I can always set you up with one of my friends."

Cole chuckles, "Thank you for your concern, Richard, but unlike you, I don't swing that way."

"Your loss," Richard calls as Cole walks away, smiling.

* * *

Cole approaches the elevator that'll take him up to the fourth floor. He steps up and presses the button, then stands back and waits for it to arrive. He greets a few people he met earlier in the month, and says hello to some of his fellow employees as they pass by him. Then he hears the ding of the elevator arriving, and he turns towards it to see the doors opening. He steps inside and leans over to the panel, pressing the 4 button. The doors close and he takes a deep breath, leaning up against the back wall of the elevator.

He breathes in deeply, trying to think of what he's going to say to this woman he barely knows, but obviously knows him. He wants to know her, feels like he should know who she is, but he just can't place his finger on who she should be to him.

Tearing him from his thoughts, the ding of the elevator alerts him to his arrival on the fourth floor. The doors open and he steps out, checking quickly to see which way room 408 is.

Making his way down the correct hallway, he can feel his heart beating faster, but he doesn't know why. He approaches the door, and stops right in front of it, reaching a fist up to knock on the white painted wood of the door.

A second later, the door opens and he sees a woman standing on the other side. She's medium height, with medium length, slightly wavy, light brown hair hanging down behind her. She has a look of shock on her face.

"Hello," he says nervously, "I'm…"

"Grant." She cuts him off.

"Actually," he says, "my name is Cole."

"Right," the woman in front of him says, "Sorry. My name is Jemma. Can I help you with something?"

"I was hoping so," he says. "Is your friend here? Skye?"

"Yeah, she's here. What do you need?"

"I was wondering if I could speak with her."

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Jemma tells him, "if she sees you, she's just going to get upset even more."

"But that's why I need to talk to her," he says, "I need to understand why she just ran off like that. If I don't find out, it'll just drive me crazy."

Jemma thinks for a moment and then sighs, "Alright. But just for a little while."

"Thank you," he says. Jemma opens the door wider and he steps just inside the door, waiting for more instructions.

"Follow me," Jemma says, walking in front of him. She leads him through the hotel room and towards the balcony. "She's been out there for the last couple of hours. If things get to be too much for her to handle, you're going to have to leave. Is that understood?"

Cole nods his head, "Of course."

"Good. Just give me one moment." He nods and Jemma opens the balcony door slightly, stepping through. "Skye?" he hears her say, "Someone is here to see you. They just want to talk to you."

"Who is it?"

"Um…I think I'll just let them tell you."

He hears a sigh, "Fine. Send them back."

He sees Jemma walk back out and she smiles softly at him, "You can go out now."

"Thanks," he says. He steps around Jemma and takes a deep breath to calm himself before he steps through the double doors.

He sees her, the woman from before, Skye, sitting on a deck chair on the balcony. He slowly walks up behind her, "Skye?" he says softly.

Skye quickly turns around and looks at him, hope filling her eyes, "You remember me?"

"Sorry," he says, "I don't. But I want to," he sits down in the chair next to her. "After you left the bar, I started thinking. You clearly weren't drunk, so you had to have had a reason for kissing me. And then all these images started flashing through my head, but none of them were very clear. And I knew that I had to come and find you. If I am who you think I am, then maybe, maybe you can help me to remember?"

Skye looks at him, "You're really asking me to help you remember?"

"Yes," he says, grabbing her hand in his without even thinking about it, "For the last year, I knew that there was something missing. But I didn't know what. I didn't have any memories of what happened to me, I couldn't even remember my own name."

Skye looks down at their hands, takes a deep breath, and then looks back up at him, "Okay." She says.

"Okay?"

"Okay. I'll help you remember."

"Really?"

"Yeah," she nods her head, "For an entire year, I thought you were dead, and now I've found you. I'm going to do everything that I can to help you."

"Thank you," he says.

"Anytime," she smiles. "Now, where should we start?"

"How about with my name?" he suggests. "You called me Grant, in the bar. What's my last name?"

"Ward. And your middle name is Douglas."

"Grant Douglas Ward," he says, trying it out. "I like that."

"I hope so," she laughs quietly, "you've had it your entire life."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"I have a question for you." Skye says.

"Shoot."

"How did you come up with the name Cole?"

"Oh, um. I don't really know. When I got asked what my name was, I couldn't remember. So I thought for a minute, and then I had this weird feeling, that I knew someone who's name was Cole. So that's what I picked. Did—do I know anyone named Cole?"

"Not directly, no. But uh, my maiden name is Coulson."

"Really?"

"Yeah, maybe it was a subconscious thing. A part of your mind was still hanging onto the life you had."

"Yeah, maybe." He says.

Skye smiles at him and then looks down at their hands. She notices that he is gently rubbing circles on the back of her hand with his thumb. She smiles wider and can feel tears starting to well up in her eyes.

"Hey," he says, getting her to look up at him, "are you okay?"

"Yeah," she says, wiping the tears from her eyes, "It's just…"

"What?"

"What you're doing," she gestures down to their hands, "whenever I would get really stressed about something, usually work, you'd sit with me, and you'd take my hand, and you'd rub circles on the back of my hand with your thumb. It always seemed to calm me down."

"So I take it you and I were close. And if that kiss was anything to go by, we were really close." He smiles "Plus you said that you're maiden name was Coulson. So I take it we're..."

Skye nods her head, "Yeah. We're married."

"For how long?"

"About three and a half years." She smiles.

"Three and a half years," he repeats, "we must really love each other."

"Yeah," she smiles, "we were actually beginning to talk about starting a family."

"Really?"

"Yeah." She replies, smiling at him.

"I never would have thought that I was married." He tells her honestly, "When I was found, they didn't find any kind of ring on me. Something must have happened to it." He glances down at their hands and sees a faint line on the ring finger of his left hand.

"It's probably at the bottom of the ocean," Skye tells him, "you had taken it off when we were on your uncles' boat. You caught us dinner the night before; you never liked to wear it when you gutted fish. You had put it in your pocket, but never put it back on. It must have been pulled out of your pocket by the water when you uh, got pulled under."

"Wow. That's really unfortunate."

"Yeah, it is. But let's not talk about that right now."

"Okay, well I have another question."

"What is it?"

"How did you and I meet?"

Skye smiles, "That's actually kind of a crazy story. So, I've been working at this really big company, in the IT department. I'm one of the best, if not  _the_ best IT person in the whole building. You were close friends with one of the guys working there, and you told him that you needed some help with something at your place. So, he called me because I'm really good with technology, and asked me to help you, because apparently you didn't want to have to keep finding someone every week because the person who helped you screwed up."

"I take it I'm not very good with technology."

She laughs, "No you are not. Anyways, I came out to your apartment to help you, because let's face it; I'm a god with technology. While I was there, you flirted with me a little bit, and I will admit that I flirted back. But I also fixed the problem that you were having."

"What's so crazy about this story?" Grant questions, slightly confused.

"I'm getting there," she tells him, "Let's see, it was the following week, and by this time, I had kind of forgotten about you, but you clearly hadn't forgotten about me, because you called your friend back and requested me by name to come and help you. You said that you were having another problem and you only trusted me to help you. So I came by and helped you again. Week after week, you kept calling back with a new problem, and your problems were starting to get a little ridiculous."

"Why is it that I can totally see myself doing this? Even though I don't remember it."

"I don't know. But finally, when I showed up and you told me about your latest problem, I finally confronted you about how ridiculous it was."

"What was it?"

"You couldn't turn your TV on. But all you did was unplug it from the wall." She smiles at him.

He blushes a little, "Oh."

"When I confronted you about it, that's when you told me that the only reason you kept calling me back, was because you liked me, but you didn't know how else to talk to me." She smiles at him and can see a slight blush on his cheeks. "So, I took pity on you, and I asked you out, because I'll admit that I thought you were kinda cute too. We started dating, and then after a few months, you asked me to marry you. It was pretty cute how you did it, too. You enlisted some of my buddies from the IT department to help you rig up your computer. I had to fix it for you, and when I did, it flashed a bunch of pictures of us across the screen, and then written in code, was 'Will You Marry Me'. It was very sweet."

"Wow. That is a pretty crazy story."

"Yeah, I love telling it though." She smiles.

"I can see that," He says, "What else can you tell me?"

"What else do you want to know?"

"Um, Jemma. How do I know her?"

"You met her through me. I met her in like, 4th or 5th grade when she moved to America from England and we've been best friends ever since then. You met her not long after we started dating. She gave you a pretty hard time at first, basically trying to make you miserable, or something like that. She even threatened you if you ever intentionally hurt me."

"That girl that answered the door? She threatened me?" he raises his eyebrows.

"I know she doesn't look like it, but she can be very scary. It can be pretty intense sometimes."

"I'll take your word for it," he chuckles. Skye just smiles at him, not believing her luck. Grant notices her smile and catches her attention. "Why are you smiling?" he asks her.

"I'm just really happy that you came back to me. I had a feeling you were alive, I knew we'd find our way back to each other." She can feel tears starting to build up in her eyes.

"I'm happy too," he says, "even if I'm having a hard time remembering things," he says.

"It's a good thing I'm telling you all of this then," Skye says with a smile.

"Yes, it is."

"Now, what do you want to know next?"

* * *

"Thank you again for letting me join you two for dinner," Grant says as he helps clear off the small table in the hotel room.

"It's no problem," Skye tells him, "it was nice to have you here." She gives him a smile.

He smiles back, throwing a few things in the garbage can. "I actually, I have a question."

"What is it?" Skye asks, handing Jemma some of the leftovers.

"I want to come back." Skye and Jemma both stop what they are doing, looking pointedly at him. "I want to come back home."

"You do?" Jemma asks.

He nods his head, "I do. I don't belong here. I may have lived here for the last year, but it's not my home. Everyone I most likely care about is back in the US. I want to go back there; I want to go back to my old life."

"Okay," Skye says after a quiet minute. "We'll bring you back with us."

He smiles wide, "Really? Thank you so much."

"In fact," Skye says, "Why don't we head back early. Like, tomorrow or something."

"I don't want to cut your vacation short," Grant says quickly.

"It's no problem," Skye says, "right Jem?"

"Of course," Jemma smiles, "we're both happy to bring you back home. It's about time that you got back to everything. There are quite a few people who will be very happy to see you."

"Then it's settled," Skye says, "I'll get online and book us the next flight back to the states." She steps forward and grabs one of Grant's hands in her own, "Let's go home."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So? What did you all think? Let me know in a review down below! I'd love to hear your thoughts. :)  
> Also, I'm looking for people who might be interested in helping me with a special b-day present for Chloe. If you're interested, let me know. :)  
> Until next time,  
> Jellybean96 out!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys! Here is the final chapter for this story. I wanted to get it up tonight before I forgot. So I'm uploading it now, before the east coast airing of the new episode tonight.  
> If you are on the east coast, and read this before the episode, please no spoilers. Cause live on the West coast, and don't get to see it for a couple more hours.  
> Anyways, without further ado. The final chapter. :)

Looking out of the window of the plane, Grant watches as the plane touches down at LAX. "Home sweet home," he says under his breath with a small smile.

"What was that?" Skye asks from beside him.

He turns to face her and gives her a genuine smile, "I'm just glad to be home."

"Me too," she smiles back.

"So," he says to her, "where are we going to go first?"

"Well, we're going to drop Jemma off at her house, and you can see Fitz, her husband and one of your closest friends. Then I figured we could go and see my parents. If you're okay with going to see them already."

"Well, they are my in-laws," he says.

"That is true. And I'm positive that they'll be happy to see you too. You guys were pretty close, especially since you considered them as your own parents, because, well your home life growing up wasn't the best."

"Well then in that case, I can't wait to meet them, again."

* * *

 

"Fitz?" Jemma calls through the small house as she enters through the front door, pulling her suitcase behind her. She sets her bag upright just inside the door. "Fitz, I'm home." She turns her head around to look Grant and Skye behind her, "Come on in, guys. I'll just go and see where Fitz is. He's probably tinkering away in the garage. Make yourselves comfortable."

"Thanks Jem," Skye replies. She grabs Grant's hand in her own and leads him over to the couch, sitting down and pulling him down next to her. "Fitz is an engineer of sorts," she tells him. "He's always working on some new project of his; he spends a lot of his time in the garage working on something."

"Okay," Grant says, "How long have he and Jemma been together?"

"Um, well they were friends since they were kids. But they didn't start dating until Senior Year of high school. And then they've been married for about 2 years. You were actually Fitz's best man, and I was Jemma's Matron-of-Honor."

"So we're all really close friends, I take it?"

"The best," Skye smiles, "we're always going out on double dates and stuff. We're just really cool like that." Grant smiles and chuckles.

"Come on Jemma!" Grant and Skye hear Fitz whining from the direction of the garage. "I'm so close to finishing this project."

"And I told you that you can finish it later. Someone is here to see you." They see Jemma walk in first, and then Fitz following after her, not quite taking notice of Grant just yet. "Besides, you've probably been down there since I left, and haven't eaten a single thing. Sometimes I think I married a child."

"Hey! That is not true, and very mean," Fitz says, offended.

"Hey Fitz," Skye speaks up, interrupting the married couple banter.

Fitz briefly looks over to the couch, "Hey Skye, Grant." He turns back to Jemma, "I'll have you know that since you left, I have…" he trails off when what he saw really registers with him. He slowly turns back to the couch and his eyes go wide, "G-grant? Is that really you?"

"Hey," Grant says with a small wave, slowly standing up from the couch.

"Oh my goodness," Fitz says and then walks towards him. He carefully wraps his arms around his friend in a hug, and Grant reciprocates. "I can't believe you're alive."

"It's great to see you, Fitz," Grant says as he pulls away from the hug.

"Where have you been all this time?" Fitz questions.

"The Caribbean Islands," Grant tells him.

"What were you doing there? Why didn't you come back?"

"He lost his memory," Skye supplies, moving to stand next to Grant and looping her arm through his. "He didn't remember anything from before the accident. But I've been telling him things about the past," She smiles up at Grant. "Filling him in on all the details of his life. Well, not all of them, obviously, but as much as I can actually tell him."

"That's great," Fitz smiles, "how have you been, Grant?" He moves to sit on one of the chairs in the living room, Jemma moving to sit on the arm of the chair he's in. Skye and Grant sit back down on the couch, Skye's arms remaining looped through Grant's.

"I've been doing well. Just got back into town, so I'm going to try and settle back down into my life. And Skye's been helping me, by telling me things, so hopefully sometime soon I'll remember everything."

Fitz smiles, "Good for you. And hey, if you ever want to know anything from me, don't hesitate to ask. I'd be happy to help you as well."

Grant smiles, "Thanks for the offer, Fitz. I'm pretty positive that I'll definitely be taking you up on that."

* * *

 

"Are you nervous?" Skye asks Grant as they make their way up to her parents' house.

"A little bit," he admits.

"Well don't be. They already love you, and they'll be very happy to see you alive."

He gives her a small smile, "Okay then, let's go inside."

She smiles back at him, "Alright." She lets go of his hand and bends down, digging in the potted plant next to the door, finding the spare key. She pulls it out of the dirt and then steps up to the front door, unlocking the door and pushing it open.

"Mom, dad?" Skye calls into her parents' house as she closes the door behind her and Grant.

"In the living room," her mother calls back.

"Come on," she says to Grant, grabbing his hand in hers. "I'll go in first, okay?"

"Okay," he says, following her to the living room entrance. He stops just outside it, and she advances further.

"Hey," Skye says as she walks into the room to see her parents sitting on the couch, watching TV.

"Hi sweetheart," her mother turns towards her, giving her a smile. "How was your trip?"

"It was great," Skye tells her.

"Wasn't it supposed to be for an entire week, though? You've only been gone a few days."

"Yeah, well, something…happened, requiring Jem and I to come back early." She wrings her hands nervously.

"What's going on?" Her mother asks. "You're not in any kind of trouble, are you?"

"No," Skye quickly assures her mother, "I'm not. But uh, I found someone while I was there, and he uh, well, I'll let you see him for yourself."

"Found?" Her father mouths to his wife, his eyebrows rising up.

"Hey, come on in," Skye says, leaning back out the door. She reaches out to grab Grant's hand in her own, pulling him into the room.

Both her parents gasp when they catch sight of him, immediately jumping up from their seats to move towards him. Skye's mom pulls him straight into her arms, "Oh, Grant," she says, "You're alive." She pulls away and looks at him.

Skye's dad steps forward and puts his hand on Grant's shoulder, "It's great to see you  _alive_ , son," he says with a smile.

"Thanks, um…"

"Phil," he supplies, wondering why Grant has suddenly forgotten his name. "And Melinda," he gestures to his wife.

"Sorry," Grant replies, "names and things are still a little hazy."

"What do you mean?" Melinda asks curiously.

"Mom, dad," Skye speaks up, "Grant has amnesia. He doesn't remember anything from before the accident. And I must have forgotten to tell him your names before we got here."

"Amnesia?" Phil asks, for clarification.

"I found him in The Caribbean when Jem and I were there. He's been there for the past year, working as a bartender in the hotel bar."

"So you don't remember anything from before your accident?" Melinda questions.

Grant shakes his head, "Sorry. No. But Skye has been kind enough to tell me about myself, and our life together. Hopefully soon I'll start to actually remember things for myself."

"That's wonderful," Phil smiles.

"Well if you every need anything, Grant," Melinda says, "You come straight to us. We'd be more than happy to help you with anything you need. Like we always have." She gives him a smile.

He smiles back, "Thank you, Melinda," he says. "It seems like I have plenty of people here who are willing to help me remember."

"Of course you do," Skye tells him, "we all love you and want you to be able to remember us as well."

"So, would you both like to stay and relax for a little bit?" Melinda asks them. "We can answer any questions you might have, Grant."

Grant and Skye look at each other and then Skye looks back at her parents, "Thanks for the offer, mom. But I actually think we're going to go now. I'm going to show Grant a few places around town, see if something will spark his memory. We just wanted to come and let you know that he's back."

"Well we appreciate it," Melinda says, "We're both very glad that you're alive."

"Thank you," Grant says with a smile.

"Alright," Skye says, "we should get going."

"Right," Grant replies.

"Call us tomorrow," Melinda says, hugging Skye tightly.

"I will," Skye says, then moves on to hug her father. "Bye daddy."

"See you later, baby girl," he hugs her back. He turns to Grant and pulls him in for a quick hug as well, "It's great to see you again, Grant."

"Likewise, Phil," Grant hugs him back. He turns to Melinda. "It's great to see you as well, Melinda."

"Of course, sweetheart," Melinda smiles.

"Okay then," Skye says, taking Grant's hand in her own, "let's get going." She leads him out of the room, and back out to her car.

They both climb into the car and Skye starts it. She turns to look at Grant and smiles at him, "Alright then, off to the first location."

* * *

 

"So we always used to come here." Grant clarifies as they walk towards Skye's car. "And just lie in the grass and talk."

"Yep," Skye replies, swinging their hands back and forth between them. "My mom and dad used to bring me here all the time when I was little, so we had planned on bringing our own kids here one day."

"Good to know," he smiles down at her. As they approach Skye's car, she presses a button on her car keys to remotely unlock the doors. Once they reach the car, Grant opens the drivers' side door for her, allowing her to climb inside. He walks over to the passenger side door and climbs in himself, shutting the door behind him and clicking his seatbelt into place.

"Okay," Skye says to Grant as she puts on her own seat belt and then turns slightly in her seat to face him, "do you want me to take you to a hotel? So you can get some sleep?"

"Um, actually I was, um….you know what, never mind," he shakes his head, looking down at his hands nervously, "A hotel sounds good."

"No," Skye says, "What were you going to say?"

He waves it off as nothing, "It's stupid."

"Hey," she places her hand on top of his that is resting on his leg, "you can tell me. I'm not going to think it's stupid."

"I was just wondering if, maybe, I could uh…"

"Stay with me?" She finishes for him.

He nods his head shyly, "If it isn't too much trouble."

"Not at all," she smiles softly, "After all, it's your house too."

"Right. Of course."

"Okay then," Skye says, turning the car on. She grabs one of his hands in hers and squeezes it reassuringly, "Let's go home."

* * *

 

"So this is where we live," Grant states as Skye pulls up to their modest one-story home.

"Yeah," Skye replies, "I know it isn't much, but…"

"It's perfect," Grant cuts her off, turning to face her with a smile on his face.

Skye smiles back up at him, "That's exactly what you said when we first found it."

"Really?" he asks her. She nods her head, "So I'm the one who picked our place?"

She smiles at him, "Yeah. You did. Now come on. I want to show you the inside of the house. Maybe seeing something inside will help you remember something."

"Maybe," he says, "only one way to find out."

"You're right," she smiles, "let's go inside." She shuts the car off and they both climb out. Skye hits the trunk button just inside the car and the trunk pops open, allowing Grant to grab his suitcase out of it. Once he has it, he shuts the trunk, and follows Skye up to the house.

It's a simple, one-story house, with a small yard out front. It's a pale purple color, with a porch along the front of the house. There is a small porch swing out front, gently swaying in the cool night breeze.

Skye grabs her house key and inserts it into the lock, opening the door. She steps to the side, letting Grant enter the house first, allowing him to take everything in before she joins him.

"Do you remember anything?" she asks him as she steps in behind him.

He leans down to set his suitcase on the floor and then stands back up, "We did renovations," he says suddenly, catching Skye by surprise. "You claimed to be working when in reality, all you were doing was just sitting around, messing around on your tablet and drinking beer."

"You're right," Skye says with a wide smile.

Grant looks at her sharply, "I am?" he smiles.

She nods her head, "You remembered something, Grant. I knew that this was a good idea."

He looks astonished, "I did it. I remembered something. I'm sorry it isn't better than that."

"Hey, it's no big deal. You remembered something about us, about our home. That's amazing." She places her hand on his arm.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

She scoffs playfully, "Of course I am. Now, let me show you our room." She grabs his hand to pull him along with her.

"Um…."

"Don't worry," she rolls her eyes, "I'm not going to try anything. Yet." She smirks playfully. "I just want to see if any more memories spark when you see our room."

"Okay," he agrees.

"Great, follow me."

* * *

 

"Well, I'm going to turn in," Grant tells Skye, as he stands up from the bed, where they had been talking. He looks down at Skye, making sure that she heard him. She's lying down near him, looking up at him. "I'll go and sleep on the couch." He informs her.

He turns to leave when Skye catches his wrist in her tiny hand. "Wait," she says. He turns around to face her, and sees that she's leaning up on one hand, the other wrapped around his wrist. "Please don't go."

"But…"

"Please," she repeats.

"Won't it be a little strange though? You know all of this stuff about me and our life together, but I can barely remember anything about you. Won't it be a little weird for us to sleep in the same bed again?"

"Grant," she begins, sitting up on her knees and grabbing his face in both of her hands, "Every day for the last year, I have woken up alone and sad, because you weren't here next to me. I don't really care right now if you can barely remember me. I just need to wake up next to you in the morning. I need your face to be the first thing I see when I wake up tomorrow. Then maybe I can actually convince myself that this isn't just another dream. That you're actually back." A single tear runs down her face and Grant reaches up to wipe it away with his thumb.

"Okay," he smiles softly, "I'll stay."

"Thank you," she breathes out in relief.

Skye climbs off of the bed, moving towards the closet to change. She puts on a pair of sleep shorts, along with one of Grant's old t-shirts. She walks over to her side of the bed and climbs underneath of the covers. Grant automatically pulls off his jeans and his t-shirt, leaving him in just his boxers. When he realizes what he did, he quickly looks up at Skye, "You don't mine, do you?"

She smiles at him, "Not at all. It's just like old times."

He smiles back at her and then pulls back the covers on his side of the bed, climbing in as well. As soon as he lies down, Skye immediately curls up against his side. She wraps her arms around his torso, holding him tight; tangles her legs with his, wanting the connection; and lays her head on his chest, needing to hear his heartbeat in her ear.

Grant just smiles down at her, smoothing out her hair with his hand, "Are you comfortable?" he asks her with a smile, subconsciously wrapping one arm around her waist, bringing the other up underneath of his head.

She nods her head, "I've missed this." She tells him softly.

"I can tell," he chuckles.

Skye can feel the rumble in his chest from him chuckling. She sighs happily, closing her eyes, glad to have the love of her life back in her arms.

"Skye," Grant speaks up, breaking Skye from her thoughts.

"Hmm." she responds, not opening her eyes.

"I'm sorry that I haven't remembered that much yet. It's really hard, trying to remember all of these things that you've been telling me."

She opens her eyes and tilts her head up to smile at him, "It's fine, Grant. I know it must not be easy, but we'll get through it together. All I can really ask is that you try."

"I will," he smiles back, "Now get some rest. After the last few days, I think we both really need it."

"You're absolutely right," she says back. She settles herself back against his body, breathing his scent in deeply. He still smells like she remembers. "You'll still be here when I wake up, right?" she asks him.

"Absolutely." He smiles.

"Good. Because I don't think I'd survive if I woke up and you were gone."

"I know," he says, "which is why I'm not going to go anywhere. I plan on staying right here with you."

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear," Skye says, stifling a yawn.

"You're exhausted," Grant points out to her, "Go to sleep, I promise I'm not leaving."

"Okay," Skye says, this time not holding back her yawn. "Goodnight, Grant."

"Goodnight, Skye," he says back.

After a few minutes, when her breathing has evened out, and Grant knows that she's asleep, he carefully leans down, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of her head. "I  _will_  remember you, Skye," he says quietly, "I promise I'll remember."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright. What did you think? Let me know your thoughts down below. I'd love to know what you think.  
> Also, still looking for people to participate in my special project for Chloe. Anyone who is interested, just let me know and I can get you more information.  
> Until next time,  
> Jellybean96 out!

**Author's Note:**

> So? Did I tug at your heartstrings? Let me know down below! I'd love to hear your thoughts!  
> Until next time,  
> Jellybean96 out!


End file.
